^ Hence the thread title...

But do tires count as car set up?

 

Having matching tires will tell you a lot more about what the car is doing for or against you. If you have a chance to run before you can get tires, offer your car to an experienced driver and go along for the ride. That way you will know just how much you can get out of the current set up. You will get great feed back from someone who knows how to use what is there and no more. They may come in a proclaim the car an undrivable pig but then you will know its more than just the nut that holds the wheel.

 

Very true about the no drama bit.

A couple of years ago I was trying really really hard to catch another RX7 driver. I was letting it all hang out, squealing tires like crazy, sliding through the corners, and generally putting on a great show for the spectators.

On my last run, I finally got myself under control and drove the course the way it should have been driven. My time was over 3 seconds faster, but all my buddies kept asking "what happened?" "Why were you going so slow?" "We thought you had mechanical issues" etc.

The truly fast drivers very rarely look like they are going fast. And the guys that look like they're really out there tearing it up, are probably some of the slowest drivers.

 

Like jgrewe says, concentrate on going slow. Find the course and gradually increase speed. As you gradually increase speed, you get smoother while controlling the vehicle and can feel where you mess up. You'd be surprised how fast keeping a steady speed and moving around the course smooth is.
One of the most important things is that you need to be willing to listen and make changes according to input from others who have been doing it before. In the end, no one can help you if you aren't willing to make the changes to help yourself. I see it all the time with younger autoxers.

 

dpf22 - I couldn't agree more. Pele- Seriously, hit every event you can. It takes a few events to start to "get it" and you may as well try to get them out of the way before next season. Don't lose the faith, but just like during a run, patience is everything in learning to drive too. I re-learn this about once every 3 events: slow is fast. The fastest runs never feel it.